Genetics BIO 304 Lecture: MWF, 10:00 am - 10:50, BS 116 Instructor: Dr. Charles Fox Office: Ag Science Center North Room S-307B Office Hours: Immediately after class or by appointment E-mail: fox@uky.edu TAs and their office hours Tseten Yeshi, tgyesh2@uky.edu, 229-6312, F 2-4pm, BS 311 Travis Sexton, trsext2@uky.edu, 257-6271, F 2-3pm, BS 301 Tom Gawriluk, tgawriluk@uky.edu, 257-1807, W 3-4, THM 313

Text: Snustad and Simmons, Principles of Genetics, 4th Edition. Wiley, ISBN 0-471-69939-X.

Objective: The objective of this course is to introduce you the principles of transmission genetics, molecular genetics, and population genetics. You should come away from this course with a good understanding of basic principles and a good vocabulary of genetics terminology. Genetics is an exciting and very important field of biology; which is why this is a required course for many majors. But it can also be a lot of fun! My primary objective is to ensure that you learn basic genetics, but I also hope that you will enjoy this course and want to pursue further study in this field.

Reading Assignments: Readings in the textbook are listed on the syllabus. Although you might pass the class by skipping the reading assignments, you will not get a good grade. If you want to do well, read the assigned chapters! If you want to do really well, read the chapters before the class in which they will be discussed!

Course materials: The syllabus and other course materials, including all overheads used in lecture, will be presented on the web at http://www.uky.edu/~cfox/Courses/Genetics/. You are encouraged to download class overheads before each lecture so that you can write on them during class. You will not have time during class to copy the information presented on the overheads.

Attendance: I will not take attendance for lecture and will not deduct points from your grade for missing class. However, exams will be based on material presented in class. If you do not attend class, you will not do well on exams. In contrast, recitation sections are required and your TA may take attendance. Also, quizzes given during your recitation section will not be announced in advance, so you must attend your section to ensure you get credit for each quiz.

Exams and Grading:
Exams: (500 points) There will be five exams, one exam approximately every three weeks. Each exam will be worth 100 points and will cover only material from that section of the class.

Recitation sections: (100 points) There will be various quizzes and problem sets assigned during sections. Attendance at recitation sections is required. Quizzes will not be announced in advance, so you must attend recitation sections to ensure receiving credit for the quiz. Make-up quizzes will be given according to the exam make-up policy (see below).

Final grades will be based on the total points for the five exams plus recitation section.

Lecture exams: 500 points
Recitation sections: 100 points
Total: 600 points

Grades will then be awarded based on the following scale:

90 % or greater – A
80% to 89.9% – B
70% to 79.9% – C
60% to 69.9% – D
Less than 60 % – E

If final grades are lower than I consider appropriate, I might impose a curve that results in higher grades. I will not impose curves on individual exams, but may do so on the final grades in the class. However, I will not impose a curve that results in lower grades than students earn using the scale indicated above.

Missed Exams: Make-up exams or quizzes will be given only if an absence is pre-arranged (at least one week in advance) or if a valid excuse is provided (as per university regulations which are posted at www.uky.edu/Ombud/). An unexcused absence from an exam or quiz will result in a zero for that exam or quiz. There will be no exceptions to this rule. A missed exam or quiz will not be dropped from the final grade. Make-up exams will be given during my office hours immediately following your return. Note to student athletes: You must make arrangements at least one week in advance, with a note from the athletics department, if you will miss an exam or recitation section for a sporting event.

Cheating: I will not take attendance for lecture and will not deduct points from your grade for missing class. However, exams will be based on material presented in class. If you do not attend class, you will not do well on exams. In contrast, recitation sections are required and your TA may take attendance. Also, quizzes given during your recitation section will not be announced in advance, so you must attend your section to ensure you get credit for each quiz.

Overheads for Lectures in pdf format: (Important note: You may download most slides before class. However, I often modify my slides the night before class. Thus the attached slides are not always exactly the same slides used in class. Updated slides will be posted shortly after class).